Congratulations to the quartet of Edwin Gadayi, Benjamin Azamati, Joseph Paul Amoah and Abdul-Rasheed Saminu for securing a place in the 4x100M relays in the 2027 World Athletics Championship to be hosted at the National Stadium in Beijing, China.
The Ghanaian sprinters finished second in the Heat behind China to steal the final slot for next year’s competition by clocking 38.90s. It was the team’s fourth straight appearance in the World Championship, making the feat memorable.
Instead of celebrating, the athletes were not even excited about their wonderful achievement, but rather bemoaned the Sports Ministry of Ghana’s horrible treatment of them.
On X, Abdul-Rasheed Saminu fired the ministry and urged them to do better for the team.
“The Ministry of Sports in Ghana needs to do better; don’t set us up for failure. If it were “Black Stars”, flight tickets will be ready a month prior to their game. A 14-hour flight, 16hrs lay over is not acceptable for professional athletes. We’re running with jet lag, no proper recovery”.
Azamati immediately reposted Saminu, Ghana’s fastest man’s tweet to support his mates unhappiness about how the Sports Ministry do not have them in their plans.
“To add to that, we’re competing against guys who’ve been here 1–3 weeks while we’ve been travelling since Wednesday and arriving a day before on a new continent.
I get it, I guess we’re magicians.
Do better, Sports Ministry!”
It is difficult for athletes to speak out soon after a gruesome competition, but the 4x100m relay team did the opposite. Their outburst must not be criticised but rather praised.
The Ministry of Sports and Recreation of Ghana is known only for always being there for football matters. For the football matters, it is all about the Black Stars. It has existed for more than three decades, and nothing shows that they are changing anytime soon.
The Ghanaian relay team had three days to prepare in Gaborone before the commencement of the championship, while some of their rivals had between 14 and 10 days to prepare. The team faced the same problem during the 2024 edition hosted in Nassau, the Bahamas.
It is very disappointing to learn that the support for Ghana’s other sporting disciplines is nowhere near enough.
Saminu and Azamati’s ouburts are a testament to the ministry’s incompetence, and the earlier they start paying equal attention to every sporting discipline, the better it will be for everyone.
